World on fire
by impala-imagines
Summary: The world has gone to shit, the undead are rising up and eating the living; but that doesn't stop love, desire and lust! Brand newish fanfic from Impala imagines. Walking Dead re-written, characters killed differently, but all still fighting to survive. Formally known as Wicked Games
1. Chapter 1

Katherine stood in her bedroom, staring into the mirror at her own reflection. Her brown eyes were bloodshot and the bags under her eyes were a clear sign that she'd not been sleeping. Putting her hair up into a ponytail, her hands dropped down and she let out a sigh. She didn't want to go to work, but she knew she needed to, she had to. "Don't go, Mom." Pulling her eyes from her own reflection, she focused on the little brown haired girl who stood in the doorway. "I have to sweetheart, Grandma is going to look after you and I'll be back real soon." Turning around, she crossed the room and bent down in front of her little angel. Cupping her cheek, she wiped away the tears that were threatening to trickle down her cheeks with her thumbs, and smiled before standing up and kissing her on the forehead. "Be good, I'll be back, I promise." Taking one last lingering look at her little girl, she then turned and rushed downstairs, unable to look back a second time.

Reaching her mother, who was waiting by the front door Katherine, looked at her for a moment. She found her forehead wrinkling as she reached out, her fingers brushing over her mother's forehead, before hugging her tightly. "Katherine… you better come back, you're that girl's world." Katherine looked at her for a moment and sighed. "I know, but this is important, I'm going for her. If I don't, she'll die!" She felt her mother grab her arm, causing her to turn around. "Can't we go to a pharmacy or something? Wouldn't it be better than going there, what if it's got a lot of infected?" Kat bit her lip and let out a sigh. "Just pack the bags, make sure there is a lot of food for her, we don't know how long we'll be on the road for her. I'm not going to lose her, not now, not ever. I'll be back. Lock the door, bolt it, I'll be back."

Nothing was more important to Kat than looking after her daughter; her little girl had been diagnosed with diabetes when she was only five years old. Before they left, before they ran away from the infected, she needed to raid the hospital, needed all the meds she could possibly get to keep her beautiful little girl going. Climbing out of the car, around the corner from the hospital, she hoped to get a clear run home once she was out of the hospital. Looking around for any signs of infected, she took a deep breath, before heading toward the hospital. It was chaos inside, everyone was running for their lives, screaming, trying to hide, and trying to escape. "Kat, what are you doing here?" She turned around quickly and looked at the nurse, one of her closest friends. "You need to get out, they were meant to be evacuating, but there is an outbreak on the top floor. The Military are coming to take them and anyone else who might be infected out." Katherine looked at Nicky and took a deep breath. "It will be alright. Go; get back to your family. Leave now." Kat ordered, as she hugged the woman tightly. "Stay safe, get out, just go be with your family."

Katherine watched as Nicky ran, heading to the stairs and rushing away. She hoped she got out. Turning back to her mission at hand, she rushed to the staff changing room and down to her locker; she could hear the sound of gunfire on the upper floors they were here already. Her heartbeat quickened as she ripped open her locker, grabbing out a bag, a few pictures and a small box with a bow on it and placed it into her jacket pocket. "Just to the medical cabinet, then go." She muttered to herself. The gunfire overhead was getting closer, she started to feel as if she was unable to breath, unsure if this was a good idea or not. She turned as the door flew open and instantly, she moved to hide behind a set of lockers. She listened as; footsteps moved around the room, she didn't dare move a muscle until the footsteps disappeared very quickly and the sound of running and gunshots carried on down the halls. Rushing back to her locker, she checked to make sure there was nothing else left in there, that she needed before slipping into the hallway.

It was a whole new place now, it wasn't like it was a few minutes ago. There was smoke everywhere, gun fire echoing through the halls. She had to get to the medical cabinet. Covering her mouth, she ran, rushing toward the end of the hall and into a small cabinet. It had already been pried open. Kat could feel her heart sinking as she made her way closer and pulled the door open. "Thank God." She muttered, pulling all the syringes she possibly could from the shelves and into her bag, she then grabbed anything else she thought she might need. The ground shook around her, and the lights began to flicker. Looking up at the light above her as it jumped around, she bit her lip, she had to go, now!

Back into the hallway she ran, her eyes looking around as she made her way toward the stairs, freezing, she stopped as she heard shuffling and groaning coming toward her. "Oh no…" Turning on her heel, she went to run the other way; gunfire on the other side of her caused her to stop. She was trapped between the two. "Shit!" Looking around for a way out, she pushed a door open and ran inside not caring what was inside. Pushing her ear against the door to listen, she could only hear the sound of her own heart thumping, and her breath leaving her quickly. She could hear them coming, hear them shooting and taking out the infected. Her body was shaking as she waited, as she strained to listen for the sound of anyone, or anything outside the door.

* * *

"I bet you ten bucks he won't make it back." The dark haired, deep blue eyed teen said placing down the cash on the table in the cafeteria. "What Mr. Grimes, you're betting against your best friend?" Kat questioned the man as he took a seat beside her. "Make it twenty and you got a deal." Rick chuckled and placed down an extra ten bucks and smiled. "You're on Kat." A grin pulled at her lips for a moment, before she looked down. "He'd be disappointed if he knew you were betting against him." While Kat was in the rather popular group, she still found herself getting shy around certain people, Rick was one of them. Rick, like Shane were those two untouchable guys in her eyes, both on the football team, both popular, Shane was a prankster, while Rick was the more down to earth one, but out of the two Rick was the person who Katherine Chase became nervous around. Several other people on the table placed down cash, wanting to get in on the bet, a fair few of them agreeing that he'd not be back. "I do look forward to taking all of your cash." Kat responded after placing her cash down on the table.

Ten minutes before the end of lunch, the seat beside her was pulled out and a rather breathless Shane plopped down. Smirking softly, Kat looked over at him and smiled. "Nice work Shane." She picked up the cash off the table, paid the respective people and handed half of her share over to Shane. "Why thank you Kitty Kat." Taking the cash from her, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. She couldn't help but glance at Rick as he did. "Hey Grimes, told you he'd be back." Shane let out a little laugh as he finished his sandwich. "You bet against me Rick? What type of friend does that?" He questioned with a chuckle between long gulps of his water.

Getting up, as the bell rang, the group headed out. Looking out the window as Shane called the head teacher, he smiled. "Your coupe's gone!" The group let out a laugh as the head looked out the window then back at the group, especially the ring leader, Shane. "Miss. Chase, Mr. Grimes, I thought better of you than this. Mr. Walsh, my office, now!" Kat and Rick glanced at each other, trying hard to not laugh. Shane took a bow and excused himself from the duo, and headed off to the principal's office, only stopping to glance over at Kat and Rick for a moment. Standing alone with Rick in the hallway, her eyes flicked up to look at him for a moment, his eyes looked back at hers. "Next time, I will win." Letting out a breathless laugh, she shook her head. "Not a chance Grimes." It was only then that she realised how close they were stood to each other. "I will, I can't have Shane winning every bet Kat." Katherine let out another laugh and shook her head. "Maybe you should stop betting against him then Rick." Patting him on the shoulder, Katherine moved away from Rick and headed to class, leaving him alone in the hallway.

* * *

The footsteps passed, and Katherine let out a sigh, finally letting herself feel as if she could breathe once again. The gunfire moved further away and after a few moments, she slowly opened the door and looked around. It was now or never, she needed to go, needed to try and escape before anything else came. Instantly, she rushed out and into the hall, she ran straight for the stairs and got into the stairwell without stopping to look for the sign of anyone. Closing the door, she let out a breath and listened for any sound coming from behind her, before taking off. Racing down the steps, she jumped steps, flung herself around corners and pushed herself to move as quickly as possible, the sound of gunfire coming from each floor. Reaching the ground floor, she pushed open the fire exit and ran for her car, leaving the hospital behind her. Getting into her car, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, before turning on the car and driving for home.

Banging hard on the front door, Kat glanced around, her heart pounding as she waited for the door to open. What if something had happened to Julie? What if they were no longer there? What ifs ran through her head as she continued to bang. "Mom!" The door flew open and a pair of small arms wrapped tightly around her. "Julie, it's alright I'm back. I told you I would be back." Kissing her head softly, she stepped inside and shut the door for a moment. "Is everything ready to go?" Julie nodded softly and then motioned to the bags and the box of food sat waiting for them. "Yeah, but Grandma is still in the bathroom, she's been in there for nearly an hour." A feeling of dread ran over the mother as she registered what Julie had said. Picking up the bags, Katherine moved them to the door, clothes, food and her father's gun; it was all ready to go.

"Julie, sit there, do not move. I'm going to get Grandma." Kissing her on the head, Katherine rushed past and up the stairs. "Mom?" Unlocking the door from the outside, she opened it slowly. "Mom?" Slowly stepping forward, she placed a hand on her neck. A sad look appeared on her face. "Mommy…" Gasping, Katherine covered her mouth as tears started to fill her eyes. "I'm sorry Mom." She uttered, her fingers pulling away and stepping back out of the room. Pulling the door shut, she spun around wiping her eyes and shaking the sadness off as she walked back downstairs. "Let's go sweetie." The little brunette girl glanced to her mother, then back up the stairs. "Where is Grandma?" She frowned softly, a hand touching her cheek. "She's gone… We have to be brave okay? So no tears right now."

There was a strong pain in her chest, Katherine lost her father when she was only nineteen years old. But now her mother was gone too, succumbed to the illness that had taken so many people all over the world. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she tried to avoid Julie's gaze, taking things to the car. How could this happen? Sucking in a breath, Kat threw in a box and a bag and sighed. She hated this, hated that she would have to fight alone to look after her little girl. How far could a woman and a girl go when they were in a world that would soon become a land with no rules. Standing alone outside for a moment, Katherine closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, before opening her eyes. She had to do this, her little girl needed her to.

Finishing packing up the car, Katherine then rushed back inside and picked Julie up. "Let's go baby girl." Glancing up toward the bathroom, Kat then looked at her daughter with a soft smile. Carrying her out to the car, she put her inside and strapped her in, then got into the driver's seat and locked the doors. "Oh by the way Princess," Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled the small box with the bow on it. Turning around in her chair she handed it to her. "Happy birthday beautiful." A small smile appeared on the little girl's face as she opened the box, glancing in the rear-view mirror, she couldn't help but smile as her little girl opened the box and found a beautiful star shaped locket. "It's the one I wanted. Thank you Mommy." Nodding softly, Katherine glanced over at her and nodded. "I know, I had to hide it in work so you didn't find it. Look inside it." Katherine instructed her little girl, who squealed as she opened it and found a picture of the pair of them. "Thank you." Katherine nodded softly, a small smile on her lips as her little girl slipped on the necklace. She could feel tears filling her eyes as she left Linden County.

Gridlock, it was God's way of damning all those who drove and ruined his beautiful green earth. Frustration and annoyance was clear on Katherine's face as they sat on the hood of the car. Her arms wrapped around her daughter trying to keep her warm. Katherine let out a long sigh, and then looked down to see that Julie was drifting off. Kissing her softly on the head she slipped off the hood and scooped her up in her arms. "Dale?" She walked over to the old man, with the white beard in a dirty white beater and a Hawaiian shirt, who had two girls with him, who he'd apparently saved after their car broke down. "Are you alright Kat?" Nodding softly, she adjusted Julie in her arms. "Would you mind looking after her, she's exhausted and I just want to go on ahead a little and see if I can find out anything." He nodded softly. "Of course, Julie, why don't we take you inside and find you somewhere to sleep." Amy, the younger of the two blonde girls said taking Julie from Kat. Julie nodded and followed Amy inside, while Kit turned to look at Dale. "Thank you." With that she turned around and started making her way down the road.

There was a loud bang as she made her way through the gridlock of cars, turning she dashed through the woods, out to the clearing where she could see Atlanta. "Oh my god." Kat's hand moved to cover her mouth, a gasp leaving her lips as she took a step back. Feeling a pair of arms catch her as she slipped on the dewy grass, she slowly stood up and stared in sadness as Atlanta burned. Turning her head, slowly she looked to see who she was beside. Her eyes landed on a man with a mess of brown hair, his eyes looked away from Atlanta to her. "Sorry, thank you for catching me." She whispered, her eyes moving back to Atlanta for just a moment. "It's alright, not like you jumped on me and kissed me." She let out a small laugh as she listened to his gravelly voice. "That is true, not like there is any reason to be kissing anyone right now though." He nodded softly. Looking at him as the light from another bomb lit his face; the pair of them stared surprised at each other. "Kitty Kat?" He said softly. "Shane?" Moving over, the pair hugged each other tightly. An embrace of two people in a crazy world, who had been dragged back together, was it fate, or just dumb luck?

The pair stepped away from the sight of Atlanta and began making their way back to their cars. "Is it just you?" Glancing over at her as they moved through the gridlock, Shane questioned as they made their way toward their own vehicles. "No, me and my daughter. I left her with a couple of people a little way back; I should get back to her." Shane smiled and nodded softly. "Yeah I get that; I should get back to Carl." Looking at him, she was clearly curious. "You have a son?" Shane laughed, it was a loud laugh and it was rather soothing to hear something old and familiar. "No, he's Rick's. You remember Rick right?" Shane said looking down at her face with a small smug smirk. "Yeah… wait where's Rick?" Shane looked down. "He's dead… poor kid lost his mother then a few months ago, and Rick got shot and died in the hospital." Blinking, she looked up at Shane. "I'm sorry." He nodded softly. "Listen, why don't I go and get Carl and meet you and we can talk about what we do next?" Katherine bit her lip a little, looking up at him and then nodded softly. "Sure."

Walking away from Shane, she blinked softly trying to get the tears to clear her eyes as she made her way to her little girl. What would they do next? Was there another option, she couldn't seen one right now.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mom?" Snapping out of her thoughts, Katherine looked down at Julie. "Sorry, what?" She asked curiously. "Are you alright there?" Shane asked an amused look on his face. "Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking." Kat replied as she carried on brushing Julie's hair and putting it into two French plaits. She'd been thinking about her mother a lot since they'd settled in this camp. What would she have thought of it? Did she beg Kat not to go because she knew she was about to die? Did that sickness take her, or did she kill herself? The questions kept going through her head and it bothered her that she would never know the answers. "Right, all done. Come on then Carl; let's get your hair cut." Kat said with a smile as Julie moved out of the way and sat down on the ground beside Shane and started watching him with a curious look on her face. Taking out her scissors, Kat wrapped a towel around Carl's shoulders and started to trim it. But it wasn't as easy as that, Carl fidgeted, moved his head around, and shifted in his seat. "The more you fidget, the longer this will take." She told him with a grin pulling at her lips. "Wait till you start shaving, then you'll be begging for a haircut instead." Shane told him with a soft chuckle. "I'll believe that when I see it." Carl retorted. "I tell you what, you get through this with some manly dignity and tomorrow I'll teach you something special."

The conversation carried on, as Kat continued to cut Carl's hair. It was a strange feeling, everything just felt so natural, she didn't really know how to feel about the world ending. The discussion about cutting hair turned to catching frogs and how soon people would need to eat frogs when beans run out. Kat's eyes drifted from Carl, over to Julie. She could see the look in Julie's eyes; she was really starting to admire Shane, that she was getting very attached to the man from Katherine's past. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not, then again Shane might've changed since they were younger. "Mom, can I catch frogs with Shane and Carl?" Looking up, Kat grinned and nodded. "As long as it's alright with Shane, I don't have a problem with it." Catching Shane's eye, he smiled at her and then nodded. "Of course you can, you need to learn as well Julie." The conversation trailed off, as she finished cutting Carl's hair. "All done Carl, you two go play." Her eyes met with Shane's once again, nothing was said, but he had an intense look in his eyes as he looked at her. "Kat…"

His trail of thought was interrupted by the sound of an alarm, getting up alongside Shane, the pair of them moved over closer to Dale. "Talk to me Dale?" Shane shouted. "I can't tell yet." Amy looked around excitedly. "Is it them? Are they back?" Katherine could feel her palms becoming sweaty as nerves started to bubble inside of her, her eyes looked between Dale and where the sound was coming from. "Well I'll be damned, stolen car if that was my guess." The car pulled up and Glenn popped the hood for Shane, and then climbed out, a grin on his face. "Thank God!" Kat rushed over and hugged him. She and Glenn had met at the camp and honestly, she'd found a connection with him. Not a romantic one, no, something deeper, like a friendship that was so intense that one couldn't be without the other. She leaned on him and he leaned on her, she knew what he did before this, she knew about his family and he knew all those things about her. "I thought you were dead." Katherine said as she hugged him tightly, Glenn let out a small laugh. "Me? Never." Everyone started talking at once, asking him where the others were. Chaos seemed to break out while Amy was trying to find out where everyone, well Andrea, was.

Moving away from Glenn, Kat patted him on the shoulder, before making her way over to the kids. "You both alright?" Bending down to their height, she looked at them both as they nodded. "You sure?" They nodded again. "You can tell me if you're not, you know that right?" Both of them nodded, Carl moved to hug her tightly, but as he was about to wrap his arms tightly around her. He paused, his eyes looking up toward the van that had just arrived. "Dad?!" Kat's head shot up as Carl started to run; her mouth fell open in shock. "Rick…" She uttered softly, surprise clear on her face. Hugging Julie as she moved over to her, Kat stared at the heart warming scene of father and son being reunited a small grin pulling at the corners of her lips, unaware that someone else was currently watching the reaction on her face and finding themselves rather jealous. "Mom, are you alright?" Looking over at Julie, Katherine smiled softly and hugged her daughter slightly tighter. "I'm fine Princess; it's just nice to see Carl has his father back."

Honestly, Katherine didn't expect Rick to remember who she was, so instead she stood up and walked over to Shane who stood in shock. "I thought he was dead." She whispered, looking over at Shane. "I never heard a heartbeat, I thought he was." He whispered as he moved away and hugged Rick. "It's good to see you; I thought we'd lost you." Kat looked over at Rick for a moment, as Shane pulled away from him. Her stare caught his gaze for a moment, earning a smile and a nod from him. Nodding back, she grinned softly, then turned to walk off quickly with Julie to go and check her blood sugar levels.

As evening fell, Kat found herself glancing at Rick, she'd found herself far too nervous to approach him so far, she'd chosen to step back and leave him with his son. She'd spent the afternoon helping Carol out and now she sat with Julie on her lap listening to Rick talk about when he woke up. "I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life, put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in a coma dream, something I might never wake up from." Carl looked up at his dad. "Shane said you died." He mumbled softly. "He had every reason to think that, don't doubt that for a second." Kat watched the interaction between the group, a small grin on her face, as Dale spoke up. She found herself being quiet the more the group spoke; it wasn't that she was shy, far from it. It was more that she liked to hear what people said.

"Hey Ed, want to rethink that log?" Shane spoke up; changing the subject to Ed and the rule he was breaking. "It's cold man." As the deputy went to stand up, Kat's hand reached out and grabbed his hand. "Shane." The pair looked at each other for a moment, and Shane gave a small smile. "Don't worry Kitty Kat." Letting go, she watched him walk over to Ed, Carol and Sophia. Katherine knew what Ed was capable of, the whole camp knew what Ed was capable of, and no one really spoke about it however. But no one wanted to see Carol with fresh bruises tomorrow and Katherine couldn't help but worry that Shane was about to make it worse. Looking away from the direction Shane had gone, Kat found herself looking over at Rick; it was as if she saw the cogs turning in his head as he stared back at her. A smile formed on his lips, one that she instantly returned across the fire. Maybe he knew who she was, maybe. She wasn't sure however. As Shane sat back down beside Kat and Julie, Rick pulled his eyes away like the pair of them had been doing something naughty. Wait, did he think that they were a couple?

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy hearing his brother has been left behind" Looking up as they started to discuss what to do. "I'll tell him, I dropped the key. It's on me." TDog said. "I cuffed him, it makes it mine." Rick replied. "Guys, it's not a competition, I don't mean to bring race into it, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn pointed out; letting out a sigh Kat looked around at the group for a moment then spoke up. "I'll tell him, he doesn't know Rick and like Glenn said, TDog telling him probably won't go down well. I'll tell him. It will be the easiest option." The group slowly nodded. "But you weren't there." Rick replied looking across at Kat. "It doesn't matter, when they arrived in the group Katherine treated a nasty cut on Daryl's arm, he sort of trusts her." Dale pointed out with a nod saying he agreed with the idea. "Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from the hunt."

Looking up as TDog started to talk about the fact that he'd padlocked the door, and how Merle was still alive, Kat glanced at Rick seeing a look in his eyes that said it all, he wanted to go back. "Anyway, it's time for bed Julie." Standing up, Kat walked Julie to their tent and hugged her tightly. "I'll be right in to check your meds alright?" Kissing her on the head, Katherine turned around to look up at the sky for a moment or so. "Kat?" Looking back down, Katherine smiled as Rick approached her. "Go on into our tent Carl, I'll be right there." Carl paused for a moment and ran over to hug Katherine, before disappearing into his and Rick's tent. Looking at Rick as they stood there alone in the darkness, she smiled. "Is something wrong Rick?" She said awkwardly, why she felt awkward she didn't know… Then again she wasn't sure if he knew who she was, so she did feel awkward. "I just want to say thank you for looking after Carl, Shane said that you helped a lot." She shook her head softly "I didn't do anything, gave him a haircut, and watched him once in awhile… Nothing other parents wouldn't do." She explained. Rick reached over however and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever, even if you don't think you've done enough. Thank you." Giving him a smile, she slipped into her tent and then paused for a moment. "Good night Rick."

The next morning the place was a hive of activity; Kat was busy setting up the fires for the morning as others prepared food and water. "Morning Rick." A voice rang in her ears, causing her to look up and see Rick coming up. "Morning." She said offering him a smile, before returning to what she was doing. "Good morning." A small grin appeared on his face, as he stopped in front of her. "Carl didn't want to wake you so I looked after him." He nodded and smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate it." Katherine simply nodded and grinned. "It's no problem, I'm sure you'll do the same for me at some point." As she finished speaking there was the sound of screams from Carl, Sophia and Julie reached their ears. "Baby?" Running as fast as she could along with Rick, she reached the kids and checked over both Carl and Julie while Sophia was checked by Carol and the others went on to see what was out there. "Come on; let's get you both back to camp." Escorting the two of them back, she looked at them and Sophia and smiled. "Why don't you all go play one of Dale's board games?" She suggested with a grin, which grew as the kids ran off. Glancing at Carol, Katherine sighed a little. "They're safe, don't worry." She said as she placed a hand on her shoulder with a look of reassurance.

"Well here goes." Katherine mumbled to herself, as she heard Daryl calling for his brother. Walking across as Daryl she bit down on her lip, feeling rather nervous, she wasn't good at this sort of thing and to be having to break the news to him, why did she suggest that she do it? "Daryl… I need to talk to you." Shane and Rick had joined her as back up the moment she approached Daryl, she didn't think she'd need them to be honest, but it did seem like they thought differently. "About what?" Letting out a soft sigh, Kat looked up at him. "It's about Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta." She broke the news gently, knowing everyone was watching the exchange between them made it feel rather awkward, maybe she should've taken him to the side and told him while they were alone. "Is he dead?" Daryl questioned with an emotionless look on his face. "I'm not sure." It was then that Daryl snapped the anger clear on his face. "He either is or he ain't." It was then that Rick felt the need to cut in, he moved forward to place himself between you and the red neck. "There is no easy way to say this, but I'll just say it." The pair of them started to argue. "Let me process this, you say you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you just left them there?" A moment later, Rick was pulling Kat out of the way as Daryl started to lash out and Shane moved to grab Daryl in a choke hold until he calmed down.

The fight stopped and everyone started to relax once again, Daryl however was still angry. Looking over at Rick an angry and upset look on his features, made it extremely clear that he was planning something. "Just tell me where he is, so I can get my brother back!" Rick let out a sigh. "I'll show you, I'm going back!" Glancing toward the RV, Kat was glad the two kids were in there still, happily playing unaware of the drama that was unfolding outside. Although she'd made her mind up already, just from seeing Rick's actions and Daryl's reaction she knew in her heart that she was going too. Rick walked off to get changed, and Katherine walked inside the RV and bent down beside Julie. "Sweetie, there is something I have to do, I promise you I will be back though, alright?" Julie looked at her with a sad look on her face, but slowly she nodded. "Okay." Hugging her tightly she kissed her head. "I love you." Julie said softly hugging her mother tightly. "I love you most." Kat answered kissing her head. "You do everything Dale and Shane say, alright?" She nodded, before Katherine got out and walked off to the tent to get her bag with medical supplies inside.

"What do you think you're doing?" The voice from behind her caused a small yelp to leave her lips. "Shane, you scared the crap out of me!" The look on his face was one of anger and annoyance as he stepped inside and closed the tent. "You're going too, are you fucking insane?" He snapped. "Shane, you wouldn't understand…" She said softly. "This isn't high school Katherine; this isn't the time to be chasing after Rick!" His tone was stern as he looked at her. "Get over that goddamn crush, you're needed here!" Slamming the bag down on the floor, Katherine turned to look at Shane and shook her head. "I'm forbidding you from going!" It was the last straw, how could he be doing this? "This isn't about Rick! This isn't about high school or any crush I may or may not have!" She snapped. "This is about a man in a building who is going to need medical attention; I'm not going to just sit here while he needs me!" Shane grabbed her arm and looked down at her. "This is Merle Dixon; nobody really cares about him Katherine, you know that." Pulling her arm away she shook her head. "These days, a person is a person. No matter if they're a racist, homophobic asshole."

Walking out of the tents, she made her way over to the group. "I'm coming too." Katherine announced. "I'm not happy about this." Shane announced, looking over at Rick. "Shane, give it a rest." Katherine snapped, her eyes not even looking over at him. "Rick, tell her she shouldn't be going." You looked between Rick and Shane, a look of frustration on your face. "Rick, I'm medically trained, Merle is up there dehydrated he's going to need someone." She said shaking her head softly. "Rick, it's bad enough that you want to go out there again, but for Katherine to go as well." Pushing a hand through her hair, Katherine was close to just stamping her foot on the ground. "I wasn't aware that you or anyone on this damn camp was in charge of me." She snapped once again and shook her head softly. "She's a god damn adult, she can make up her own mind, now can we hurry up and go!" Daryl shouted getting frustrated.

"Kat, Rick and Daryl, that is the big plan?" Rick looked at Glenn. "You've been in and out with no trouble, you said so yourself. Please." Glenn agreed and Dale looked around. "So that is the four of you then?" TDog instantly spoke up. "5." Daryl rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "My day just keeps getting better and better." Kicking Daryl with her foot, Katherine looked at him with a serious look. He went quiet and nodded. Bending down, Kat hugged Julie tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I'll be back, I promise. Stay with Dale, he'll look after you." As she stood up, she caught the disapproving look of Shane once again. "Please, just look after my daughter." Shane nodded, but sighed softly. "Don't do this, please." Looking at him, seeing the pleading look in his eyes, she let out a sigh. "I have to." He nodded with not even an ounce of understanding. "You better come back." Climbing into the back, she nodded softly and looked around the group, looked at her baby girl who gave a small smile and wave.

She grinned and waved back. As the door went down, she saw her daughter falling to the ground. "Julie!" Grabbing her bag, she jumped off of the truck, leaving them to go without her. Rushing to Julie as Shane moved to bend down beside her, Katherine checked her vitals. "Shane, get my bag. Now!" Looking over at Carl and Sophia who were stood clinging to Carol looking scared, Katherine looked at them with a worried expression. "How has she been today? Was she shaking at all? Was she confused or angry? Katherine questioned as her hand touched her daughter's head. She was clammy, how could she have not seen that her daughter was suffering from hypoglycaemia? Rolling her onto her side, she checked her airways as she tried to stop her hands from shaking.

Shane ran back and handed Katherine her bag, pulling it open she checked her daughter's blood sugar level and then asked for someone to bring her some water and also a damp cloth. "Shane, can you help me move her to her bed?" She asked as she stood up. "No, move her into the RV!" Nodding, she got up and moved into the RV with Shane and Julie. "Here, Katherine." Looking up at Jackie, Katherine smiled softly. Injecting her daughter with her insulin, Kat then placed a cloth on her daughter's forehead and let out a sigh. Stroking her daughter's cheek, Katherine waited until she was alone with her daughter to whisper soft apologises, how could she have missed this? "I'm so sorry baby." She uttered feeling the tears running down her cheeks.

Once she was sure that her beautiful little girl was stable, and once again awake and had eaten, Katherine left her little girl and made her way to her tent. Standing alone in her tent, she ran her hand through her hair as she felt tears trickling down her cheeks. "Kitty Kat." Shaking her head, Katherine wiped her eyes. "Not now Shane." She whispered softly. "I need to ask you something." Shaking her head once again, she slowly turned and looked at him. "Please, not right now. I don't need to hear your I told you so." Biting down on her lip, Shane took a step forward. "I understand, but that isn't why i'm here. I need to ask you something." Feeling his hand running over her arm, she looked up at him curiously. "What is it Shane?" He took a deep breath, she could see he was nervous about whatever this was."I need to ask you something important." Looking up at him, Katherine shrugged. "Well seeing as you won't listen when someone tells you it's not the time, clearly I have no choice. What is it?" Shane's hand fell down; he let out a small sigh. "Is Julie my daughter?"


	3. Chapter 3

Katherine stood still, her eyes looking up at Shane asked a question she'd been dreading since the moment they found each other and he found out she had an eight year old daughter. Was she his? Well honestly that question was an easy one to answer, well for her it was, maybe. She knew the answer, but the problem was how was Shane going to react to the answer of who Julie belonged to. Katherine swallowed hard, her eyes pulling away from him, making him think she was guilty, making him question if this girl was about to lie or tell the truth.

"No, she's not yours." Kat finally responded, looking up after she'd spoken. "I met her father not long after we hooked up; he was a really nice guy. We were engaged when he died." Katherine had never questioned who Julie's father was, she'd felt in her bones that she knew who it was. But the problem was, now that Shane asked her, now that he stood before her questioning the parentage she wondered if her daughter's father was him.

He'd had blue eyes, these soft beautiful eyes, while Shane had brown like Julie, but then she had brown too. But those eyes, that nose, was she his? Why had Shane brought this up and turned her world into that of chaos? She didn't know and it scared her that it was now being questioned, questioned in a world where she couldn't actually answer him. "She's not?" Shane questioned, taking a step closer. "No." She could hear her voice quivering as she spoke; he was going to know, wasn't he? "I have to get back to Julie."

Katherine moved to walk around him, but Shane's hand shot out and grabbed her arm. "Don't lie to me!" He snapped, pushing her back into the tent. "I've seen her, I'm not an idiot! She's mine isn't she? Not some guy who you got with after. That girl is my little girl, isn't she?" Moving her back so she was practically against the back of the tent, Katherine looked up at him and shook her head, needing to maintain that her child wasn't his. "No, Shane. She's not yours." Shane found himself getting more frustrated at this point, and as his hand gripped her arms, Kat looked up at him fighting his grip.

"Tell me the truth, she's mine, I know it. She has my eyes! That smile, her hair, it's mine!" Fighting against his grip, Katherine looked up at him. "No, she's not yours! She has my eyes, dark brown, my hair, my nose her father's lips. She's mine and not yours!" Katherine snapped, her hand moving to slap him, but stopping as a voice joined them. "Am I interrupting something?" Freezing, the pair of them turned to look at Becky.

The red head folded her arms across her chest, her eyes looking toward Shane clearly wanting answers about what was going on. "No, you're not." Katherine stepped around Shane and picked up her bag, before making her way to the exit of the tent. Stopping, she looked over at Becky. "If you're going to fuck him, make sure it's not in my tent."

As Katherine turned to leave, Becky scoffed. "As if I'd want to do it in here, don't know what we might catch." Katherine couldn't help but laugh, turning around and looking at her. "As opposed to fucking in the woods, where you could get god knows what? Yeah, that's real classy." Shane went to step in, but Becky let out a growl. "Just because you're jealous, that I have Shane and you could never get him." It was a desperate comeback from a rather desperate woman. "Oh he didn't tell you? You're already having my sloppy seconds. Enjoy." Patting her on the shoulder, Katherine walked out, leaving the girl to look at Shane, her green eyes seemingly turning red as she prepared to yell at him.

Storming out, Katherine found herself angry, frustrated and angry. Shane made her angry, because she was now questioning something she thought she'd always known the answer to, and that damn red head, did she come in at the wrong time? Katherine wasn't sure. Kat walked past Andrea and Amy, grinning softly as she saw the fish. "You guys are awesome." She commented chuckling softly, before making her way back into the caravan to see Carl and Sophia sat playing a game with Julie.

Grinning a little at the sight of the three of them playing, Katherine decided to walk back outside and sit and read. She couldn't help but smirk as she noticed Shane and Becky fighting. She'd never liked the girl, from the moment she showed up in camp, unlike the others around here she was a slacker, she hardly helped, and she spent more time sunning herself than anything else. Katherine helped out with the children, she patched people up, she cooked, cleaned, did anything she was asked to. But not Becky, she just spread her legs for Shane. Was Kat jealous? Maybe a little, but not of her doing whatever she wanted, she was jealous of her having Shane's attention.

"Are you going to come and eat with us sweetheart?" Katherine questioned sitting down beside Julie, her hand brushing her hair out of her face. "I think some air and some company would be good for you, but if you don't want to, I can bring you some food in a minute." Looking down at her daughter with gentle eyes, Julie was clearly thinking about it. "Can I stay here?" Katherine founded softly. "Are you sure? Do you want me to stay with you?" Julie shook her head. "I'd like to sleep; can I come out in a bit?" Katherine leaned down and kissed her head. "Of course you can."

The campfire was blazing, everyone was sitting around the fish fry, laughing and talking. "Pass the fish please." Carl asked, taking some more fish and happily eating it. "Man oh man, this is wonderful." Someone commented, making everyone nod in agreement. The conversation turned quickly to Dale and his watch the group listening and laughs leaving their lips others commented on it, it was strange but people understood. "Where are you going?" Andrea asked Amy as she stood up. "I have to pee." She muttered rolling her eyes. "Jeez, you try to be discreet around here." Everyone chuckled at Amy as she walked off toward the RV. It was then that Julie stepped out of the RV at the same time as Amy.

"Mom, I'm hungry."

"We're out of toilet paper?"

Hearing her daughter, Katherine turned as two walkers appeared out of nowhere. "Julie!" The scream came from Katherine, how much was she screaming? She didn't know, she didn't care. She just needed to get to her daughter, She stood up and went to run toward her, Shane moved instantly to grab hold of her however. Get behind me!" He shouted pulling Katherine behind him with Carl and Carol and Sophia. "To the RV!" He ordered as he started to move. "Go, go, I'm right here." Shane moved quickly with them, shooting down walkers that came close. "Carol! Stay close! Come on, y'all! Work your way up here! Right in front of you." But Katherine couldn't do this; the same as Andrea couldn't just stand there and watch her little sister die, she couldn't stay there while her daughter was bleeding. She pushed past him and ran toward her daughter and collapsed beside her.

The sound of gunshots echoed over the hills, Glenn, Rick, Daryl, and TDog looked at each other before pushing harder to get back to camp. Bursting through the trees, they started to shoot the walkers, taking each and every single one of them down. "Dad!" Carl ran past Kit and over to Rick, hugging him tightly. But everyone stopped after a moment; everyone stopped and stared at Katherine as she gripped her daughter, trying hard to push the blood back into her. "Please, don't baby, please."

This was her fault, she should've stayed with her not let her stay inside alone. "No… baby, no." Katherine looked down at her daughter, the blood running from her shoulder, small gasps leaving her lips. Pulling off her jacket, she pushed it against her daughter's shoulder. "You're going to be alright, sweetie, you're going to be just fine." Pushing the hair out of the young girl's eyes, Katherine tried to fight the tears, but it was no good, they were coming even as she tried to fight them. "My baby, my little girl." She sobbed as she watched her.

"I…I love you. " Julie whispered, looking up at her mother, a weak look in her face. Tears began to fall hard from Kit's eyes as she held her daughter tightly. "I love you more.." She mumbled through the tears as she watched the light leave her little girl's eyes. "Julie, no, please, no!" She screamed as she looked down at the little girl who now lay still in her arms. "No, please… come back."


End file.
